Apple has canceled its AirPower wireless charger, citing difficulty in achieving the company’s “high standards” for the product, via TechCrunch.
“After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward,” said Apple SVP of hardware engineering Dan Riccio in a statement.
The AirPower charging mat was first announced during the company’s iPhone X event back in September 2017 when Apple unveiled wireless charging as one of the new features for the iPhone X. At the time, Apple said it would ship sometime in 2018, but then the company went silent for 18 months without shipping the device.
Apple had promised some interesting features for the AirPower charger, including the ability to charge up to three devices at once (specifically, an Apple Watch, AirPod headphones, and an iPhone), unique technology with multiple coils that would let the charger work without having to find an exact sweet spot on the pad, and a software overlay for the iPhone to display the current charge for all three devices at once.
Since then, there have been numerous reports about engineering challenges and overheating issues (specifically related to the multi-coil design) during the product’s development. But there were also some signs of hope: Apple had mentioned the unreleased AirPower in some packaging materials, and it’s shown on the box of the new AirPods wireless charging case. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple had given the thumbs up for AirPower to enter mass production. But now, more than 550 days after being announced, it seems that the product will never ship.
Comments
By FORESEE on 03.29.19 3:24pm
This is the greatest day of my life. The Doge is vindicated once again. When will you all learn I am always right. Apple strung it’s users along for 2 years with vaporware, overengineering a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, just to ‘think different’. First it was over air charging that ‘Apple would crack’. Then that was scaled back to ‘but you can place it anywhere’. Now, just stunning defeat. Meanwhile Samsung and Nokia users have been enjoying wireless charging since 2012
Add this to the list of Apple TV Set, Apple Car and Folding iPhone – mystical devices that will bring Apple back to the forefront of innovation, at least in the eyes of the most rabid Apple fans.
I wonder how the good doctor is taking this news…
By Doge Man on 03.29.19 5:18pm
Yikes.
By mobile_phoney on 03.29.19 5:24pm
Maybe I oversold it. Kind of like Apple oversold this charger.
Perhaps a more subtle ‘Christmas comes early this year’ would have been more appropriate.
By Doge Man on 03.29.19 6:02pm
Yikes.
By mobile_phoney on 03.29.19 6:03pm
Right! That’s what I’ve been saying all along. People were actually waiting for this thing for 2 years A phone charger. We’ve truly reached peak smartphone.
By Doge Man on 03.29.19 6:04pm
Yikes.
By Winklemeier on 03.29.19 6:58pm
Make it stop!!! This man is a one word debate master!!!!
By RedDemo on 03.31.19 1:27am
True
By Winklemeier on 03.31.19 2:53am
this is the company that is going to revolutionize the electric car market… can’t ship a wireless multiproduct charger it itself announced.
By Meego on 03.29.19 7:25pm
Soon™!
By Doge Man on 03.29.19 8:16pm
Haha!
By TwerkingSanta on 03.31.19 4:24pm
I think after the smashing success of AirPods and the Watch that Apple can afford to take one L. And not even a big L.
By VisionaryShaolin on 03.31.19 12:05am
lol, for your 50th post on this thread; you think that someone bought an iphone, and airpods, and an apple watch, and has not charged them once due to this pad not coming out? just trying to follow the logic here
By JesseDegenerate on 03.30.19 12:00pm
Haha, people are crazy when it comes to Apple.
By TwerkingSanta on 03.31.19 4:24pm
Nice edit bud. What are you afraid of phoney? Let the truth set you free!
By Doge Man on 03.29.19 6:09pm
"What did you do at work today?"
"I watched a guy come unhinged in a phone charger commend thread."
By mobile_phoney on 03.29.19 6:15pm
I’m just having a laugh
It’s all so hilarious. The circus the phone industry has become. Never a dull moment.
By Doge Man on 03.29.19 6:18pm
It was a cool charger! Why are you even here if you don’t like cool gadgets? One seamless surface that charges three totally different kinds of devices at the same time and even creates a cool integrated animation on the iPhone where you can visualize charged status for all the devices? That’s pretty badass. It’s a testament to Apple’s product savvy that they could even make a charger that would excite people.
By qualifiedtospeak on 03.29.19 6:48pm
Except they didn’t make it. The whole article is about them not making it! Let’s be honest, this charger was a mild improvement over a technology that has been around for quite some time. Yet there were so many people that acted like this was a revolutionary device. This whole debacle just shows why apples insistance on using their proprietary walled garden instead of open standards is killing them.
By Nick Summy on 03.29.19 7:27pm
Nick Summy with the nice summary.
By Doge Man on 03.29.19 8:17pm
But he’s wrong. Apple didn’t say this would be proprietary technology.
By VisionaryShaolin on 03.31.19 8:02am
Couldn’t agree more
By TwerkingSanta on 03.31.19 4:25pm
What proprietary wall garden are you talking about here? This was to be a standards based charger with a bit more versatility. I really don’t see anyone upset of the cancellation because, as you said, it wasn’t that big of a change compared to what is already on the market.
By err404 on 03.29.19 9:01pm
No it wasn’t. It was designed specifically to be used with the iPhone, watch, and headphones. Those 3 devices could then "communicate" with the each other. I never said that anyone was upset.
By Nick Summy on 03.29.19 9:31pm